DESIGN | The Buy-It-Twice Bathroom Project

Just days into owning our first home, Josh and I {I shouldn’t place any blame on him…that’s mean} decided that the main hallway bathroom had to be changed. Luckily the space was laid out well and didn’t need any majorimmediate changes, but the style of the space just didn’t go with our look.

INSPIRATION //

I was looking to create that marriage between rustic, farmhouse and modern, clean. I love the warmth and ‘home’ feeling that natural woods and fibers bring but I’ve always been drawn to a bright, clean, white bathroom with shiny silver fixtures and bright surfaces. These images, plus many more on pinterest, served as the inspiration for our project:

The walls of this space, among others throughout our home, had a thick decorative texture on them. We couldn’t handle it and had the walls scraped and painted before moving in. Hello, dust. And a DIY project we were not equipped for! I kept the same color pallet in the entire home – a misty light grey, a dark dramatic grey, and white. This bathroom got the misty light grey color – I think it’s perfect for a bathroom!

As for the vanity, light fixture, mirror, and accessories…. just not our thing. We pulled them out and sold them through the powers of the internet, whew!

MOOD BOARD //

To achieve the look of my inspiration images, I did what everyone does…started a pinterest board! Pinning product options and pulling pictures of items we already owned. Once we found the vanity, the look came together very quickly!

AFTER //

Now the installation of this room wasn’t exactly quite so simple.

The carrara marble vanity top had a tiny hole in it, so it was sent back causing us to…. ‘buy it twice.’ Once the real one arrived, my dad and husband tinkered and twisted and scooted and lifted the vanity and plumbing to make it work with the space.

Next, Josh and I hung the light fixture. That is, after we opened it to find that it was bent a little bit causing us to… ‘buy it twice.’ I really love this light fixture – provides tons of light and is a great farmhouse/schoolhouse feel but bright, shiny and clean.

Styling the space has been lots of fun, I fell in love with these tye-died turkish towels – funky and bohemian and the perfect dose of highly saturated color. I think it plays nicely with the bath mat/accent rug and tray under the sink.

The art I watercolored by layering black watercolor over blue watercolor. That may be a DUH moment for most, but I wasn’t so sure how to create that deep color, so there ya go!

The curtains, towel hooks, baskets and bench all bring in the earthy, rustic element with their washed out natural colors and fibers. The curtains were used in our living room at our previous house and the bench made a permanent move from our bedroom to this bathroom.

Now the mirror, it isn’t quite perfect as it stands now. So we anticipate that it will also fall into the ‘buy it twice’ category. Hangs head.

Overall, we absolutely love this space. It’s a happy feeling to know that we made it all our own! It is the main bathroom in the house and I think that it coordinates well with the rest of the home, while still having it’s own identity. One day, I would love to re-tile the floors and the shower. That day isn’t today or really in the near future, but it is on my Santa Wish List 😉

Would love to know what you think!

// amanda macy

Okay, two more things. I am storage obsessed and have to share how great these IKEA Skubb laundry baskets are! They fit perfectly into the bottom of our bathroom closet and hold a ton! {maybe that isn’t such a great thing…}

I’ll squeeze a basket into any small space! I am so thankful for this cabinet! One of the baskets is already designated for baby! 🙂 And yes, our towels don’t match. And yes, all of our white towels are in the wash. Such is life! 🙂